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I use dog snot, carefully collected from my dog's nose drippings, and put into a tiny plastic bottle with a drip-tip.

Seriously though, tri-flow because it is there. Do a search on 'chain lube' and you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about chain lubrication, and you'll end up more confused than when you started. Have fun.

Careful with this question - it'll bring on a slug fest of chain lube opinions. As suggested before, search the forum for this.

For a lubricant, 3in1 is a perfectly fine lubricant; however, it is a magnet for dirt. Dirt and grit on your drive train can accelerate wear on your drive train and leaves you with a wet, messy dirty chain.

Depending on what and how you ride, a "dry" lube is state of the art for chains these days. Some are wax based, some are petroleum based. However, dry lubes need to reapplied often, especially when they get wet. I mountain bike, and I apply the lube after every other ride, or sometimes after each ride. I don't know what this interval would be for a road bike, but I assume it depends on riding conditions. The advantage to dry is when I "clean" my chain, I use a dry brush to knock of the dust and reapply the lube - probably takes a few minutes total. A wet chain (like with 3in1 oil) would need a soaking or wet cleaning process - a real hassle. And if you have a dry chain and accidentally touch it with your leg, you won't get an instant chain tattoo.

I've tried a few different lubes (Tri Flow, Pedros Ice Wax, Krytech (sp?)) but for the past 4 years, I've been using Prolink. It goes on wet, but evaporates to dry. Prolink is also great for lubing the cables and pivots, so I cut down on my inventory of lubricants. My ride buds use White Lightning, Park Chain Lube, and Rock 'n' Roll. Ask x riders and you'll often get x+1 opinions.

I do have a can of 3in1 on the shelf for general purpose lubrication on non-bicycle items. As I said before, it's a great lubricant, but maybe not for a bicycle chain.

3 in 1, or motor oil will attract dirt to your chain like a super magnet; wax base lubes like Pedros Ice only last about 60 miles then you have to reapply and your chain won't last long with wax based crap. I use Finish Line Teflon Dry Plus, I'm not saying it's the best because I don't think there is a "best", but it works for me and I can find it at any LBS. You start with a clean chain apply the lube and let set for 12 hours then ride. Finish Line is now the worlds leading manufacture of speciality bike lubes: http://www.finishlineusa.com/

There's also Speed Skate Lube which I also really liked but it only came in a spray; this stuff works really good on bearings as well.

[QUOTE=froze]3 in 1, or motor oil will attract dirt to your chain like a super magnet;

Not necessarily so. I have been using one part 10W-30 synthetic motor oil mixed with three parts odorless mineral spirits as my chain lube for a while now. It is economical and works extremely well for me.

I make sure that I only lube my chain only on the side that has contact with the chain rings and the cog teeth as this prevents using too much lube and this is where the lube is needed anyway. And then, only between the rollers. I then wipe down the sides of the chain and make sure I wipe the chain down after each ride.

What I have found are as follows;

a)The dirt-magnet charge has been greatly exaggerated

b)My drivetrain has been the most quiet I have ever seen. My weekend early morning rides are almost zen-like in terms of quiteness.

c)It has been extremely cheap and economical to use motor oil

I should add though that I always clean my drivetrain every 250miles or so.

I just cannot justify spending the money that bike-specific lubes demand.

For what it's worth, I should mention that I live and ride in Southern California.

wondering if it would be just as easy to answer the mans question. Also wondering about your unbounded and utterly unwarented arrogance. What is more irrelevent, an ice hockey team located in a body of water, or a know it all mountain bike guy on a sand spit?

wondering if it would be just as easy to answer the mans question. Also wondering about your unbounded and utterly unwarented arrogance.

As a usually nice guy who also refers people to a forum search, I'm going to jump in here.

If somebody comes to BF looking for answers to a question, then their question can often be well answered with either links or a suggestion (humorously presented or not) to do a forum search, and they should be satisfied.

If the poster is actually seeking something other than answers -- say personal communication ("Wow! They're talking to me!"), then you may be right: only a direct answer suffices.

I give the benefit of the doubt, assuming that people come to BF looking for information. Sometimes, that information is best presented by a link to another site (Sheldon Brown, Park Tool, etc.). Sometimes, it's best presented by letting them know that a forum search will yield tons of info -- possibly more and better info than will surface by re-hashing a topic that has long been beaten to death around here.

People get tired of talking chain lube. Many highly knowledgeable people no longer discuss the subject at all. Others don't go as far toward explaining their opinions as they used to. I would argue that--in many cases--better information can be gleaned from a forum search than from bringing it up again.

As a usually nice guy who also refers people to a forum search, I'm going to jump in here.

If somebody comes to BF looking for answers to a question, then their question can often be well answered with either links or a suggestion (humorously presented or not) to do a forum search, and they should be satisfied.

If the poster is actually seeking something other than answers -- say personal communication ("Wow! They're talking to me!"), then you may be right: only a direct answer suffices.

I give the benefit of the doubt, assuming that people come to BF looking for information. Sometimes, that information is best presented by a link to another site (Sheldon Brown, Park Tool, etc.). Sometimes, it's best presented by letting them know that a forum search will yield tons of info -- possibly more and better info than will surface by re-hashing a topic that has long been beaten to death around here.

People get tired of talking chain lube. Many highly knowledgeable people no longer discuss the subject at all. Others don't go as far toward explaining their opinions as they used to. I would argue that--in many cases--better information can be gleaned from a forum search than from bringing it up again.

My $0.02. YMMV.

Lets be honest, all this information and misinformation is available elsewhere. People come here to be part of something, to share a love of cycling, just to talk. It is unlikely anyone comes here to be ridiculed and looked down upon. If you don't have anything nice to say....

Sometimes, it's best presented by letting them know that a forum search will yield tons of info -- possibly more and better info than will surface by re-hashing a topic that has long been beaten to death around here.

I quite agree especially as this has to be one of the most discussed topics in this forum. However posting that image after the op has already been told to search 3 times adds no value to the discussion and isn't exactly friendly.

Lets be honest, all this information and misinformation is available elsewhere. People come here to be part of something, to share a love of cycling, just to talk.

I suggest that there are quite a few other forums within BF.net (Road Cycling comes to mind) for the kind of interaction that you mentioned. It pretty well plays out that way on the Usenet, too -- not by any preconceived design; just by default.

Rec.bicycles.misc has become a place for people to share their stories and chat about our mutual passion. Rec.bicycles.tech is -- more or less -- a place to get your wrenching and tech questions answered.

I wanted to revive this thread to talk about my exteme dislike of purple extreme. I am currently primarily commuting (about 70 miles a week and I usually go out for a 30 mile ride on the weekends). I cleaned my chain (as prescribed) and have applied said lube three times (letting it sit over night even) in as many weeks (about 300 miles). It is clean but it does require a lot of applications. I thought the advertised 400 miles between applications was a lie and I was right. There is no way this lube would stand up to the cyclocross season. Back to Boshield T9 for me, it's still the best lube out there PERIOD.